Lawmakers weigh higher donation limits

State legislators are considering raising the cap on individual giving to political campaigns, arguing that inflation has hiked candidates' costs.

DAVID KIBBE

BOSTON — The state Legislature may raise the annual limit on individual campaign contributions to legislative and statewide candidates by as much as $250 under a bill being drafted on Beacon Hill.

A new, $750 annual limit is one of the ideas under discussion, as lawmakers complain that inflation is hurting their purchasing power come election time. The $500 limit was set in 1994.

Legislators could also choose to forgo a one-time increase in the maximum donation and instead tie future increases to inflation. Or they could do both. The new maximum rate would not go into effect until 2009, after this year's election for the Legislature.

"I think there is ample evidence that it costs more," said Rep. Garrett Bradley, D-Hingham, the House chairman of the Election Laws Committee. "I don't think anything costs the same as in 1994, just the simple costs of mailing."

The boost in the donation limit, which could mean thousands of dollars to influential lawmakers, is being tied to reform measures that would tighten campaign finance reporting and increase penalties for noncompliance.

Common Cause Massachusetts objects to an increase in the individual donation limit, but has fought to pass the other reform measures for years.

The individual donation limit once stood at $1,000, until it was lowered to $500 in 1994. Common Cause, which supports public financing of campaigns, wanted the cap even lower.

"Someone that can afford to give $500 or $1,000 as a campaign contribution is not an average citizen," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts. "It's a lot of money. We don't want to give that segment of the commonwealth a larger voice than they already have."

Bradley said an increase in the individual limit could be tied to a boost in the lobbyist limit. Currently, lobbyists can only give $200 a year to statewide or legislative candidates.

Legislators reached the $750 figure for individual contributions by indexing for inflation back to 1994. Using the same rationale, the lobbyist limit would rise to about $300.

"My thought is you either retroactive everyone back to '94 or go forward" with future increases tied to inflation, Bradley said.

Wilmot called it a "mistake" to raise the lobbyist limits.

"Lobbyists are in the business of promoting legislation," she said. "That's what they do, and the appearance of giving money on one hand and asking for their legislation to be favorably reviewed on the other is a contradictory one and creates an appearance issue."

Rep. Jeffrey Perry, R-Sandwich, said he was inclined to oppose an increase in the maximum donation, saying it would hurt challengers and reinforce a culture on Beacon Hill where money buys access.

"(The proposed increase) benefits incumbents, incumbents who have better access to people who have more interest in gaining access to legislators and who may be more inclined to donate the maximum," he said.

Perry, who also opposes public financing of campaigns, said the bulk of his donations are around $50 to $100.

"My first gut instinct is I don't see the need for it," he said. "It's not as if people cannot run credible campaigns under the current law."

Bradley said the election committee is trying to reach a consensus on the legislation, with a June 18 deadline to report a bill out.

"Obviously, it's a sensitive area," Bradley said of the proposal to raise limits. But he said the finance limits are "not the main focus" of the bill under discussion.

Government reform groups are excited about the other ideas being pushed by the committee. They include requiring a mid-year campaign finance report in off-election years, instead of just one at the end of the year.

"There's a lot of good stuff in the bill," Wilmot said.

Up-to-the-minute campaign finance reports would have to be filed 24 or 48 hours before Election Day and be publicly available on the Internet. Now, reports are only filed for a period that ends 18 days before the election, and the final dollar figures are not available until January.

Under the new bill, candidates may also have to report not just consultant expenses, but expenses by venders hired by consultants, such as pollsters. And it would be easier for the Office of Campaign and Political Finance to report violations to the attorney general's office in non-election years.